Blank Badges

Blanks, The Invisible Company, Nameless, Rebels

Free Council Sourcebook 94
Path	Acanthus
Order	Free Council
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The Free Council is widely thought of as “revolutionary,” despite being an established order for generations (“recent history” having a somewhat different connotation for mages whose history extends back to the days of Atlantis). Many Free Councilors are dedicated to revolutionary ideals, but few as much as the Blank Badges, who craft their very souls toward the overthrow of the Lie and all who support it, who give up their own identities in a quest for a greater identity, and a greater destiny, for all.

This Legacy is descended from one of the first cabals of the Free Council, formed during the Nameless War. These outcast mages took their Nameless status as a badge of honor, wearing white or blank badges as a sign of their allegiances, or some other white token, from a flower to a handkerchief. They said the white was for purity, but it also represented limitless potential, a clearing away of all the detritus of centuries of mystical tradition that bound the so-called Atlantean orders in chains of expectations and limitations. To be a mage, according to the Blank Badges, was to cast off such things and to embrace limitless potential and possibilities.

The cabal survived the Nameless War and the formation and recognition of the Free Council, eventually becoming a true Legacy that forged and reshaped the souls of young mystics initiated into its ways. Not all survived, because the Blank Badges explored the edges of mystical knowl- edge, fighting to push back the boundaries, while at the same time defying the power of the Seers of the Throne and their Exarch masters. Better to burn out than the fade away was their motto long before it came into vogue amongst the Sleepers.

For decades, the Badges have been on the forefront of the war against the agents of the Lie, but theirs is a secret war, much as the Nameless War between the Atlantean orders that created their Legacy. Blank Badges have been a part of rebellions around the world, seeking to cast off the established order to create something new. They have also fought in the shadows, unseen and unsung by any save the most perceptive of the Guardians and wisest of the Mysterium. The Badges have had to, since the enemy their fight against is conformity, expectation, the Lie of mundane existence.

In recent years, the Blank Badges have undergone an internal revolution as well. An increasing number of initiates of the Legacy have realized the Free Council is becoming (has become, according to some) as much as part of the occult “establishment” as any of the other Atlantean orders. The fifth point of the so-called Pentacle has gone from hot and fluid as an eruption to cooling and hardeninginto unyielding stone. As so many revolutionaries before them, Free Councilors are becoming the New Order, and the Blank Badges don’t like the sound of that at all. Therefore, the Legacy has gone from the core of the movement to the periphery of it, pushed out by their own nature, where they continue to follow the Legacy of their souls: revolution, evolution and defiance of expectations.

Their revolutionary nature keeps the Blank Badges on the forefront of the struggle against the Exarchs and their servants, the Seers of the Throne. While the Seers have largely lumped the Free Council in with the Atlantean orders since the Nameless refused to ally with the Seers more than a century ago, they remain keenly aware of the Invisible Company due to their penchant for provoking Paradox and stirring up trouble, to say nothing of their habit of killing Seers when they have the opportunity.

Some Pentacle mages try to keep the Blanks from drawing too much attention to the mystical community, because it only leads to Seer offensives and crackdowns, but others see the activities of the Legacy as a useful smokescreen. While the Seers deal with magical bomb-tossing anarchists, they have less attention to devote to harassing other members of the occult community. The Blanks, of course, see order mages who try to stay their hand as Exarch apologists and collaborators, traitors to the cause.

The Blanks therefore exist on the outer edges of Awak- ened society, acknowledged as members of the Free Council and afforded the protection of Awakened tradition and protocol, even if they don’t respect it themselves. They work with other mages when circumstances require it, but the Blanks don’t trust anyone, often not even members of their own Legacy, because they know the Lie extends its influence everywhere, and is not so easily thrown off as other willworkers might like to believe.

Attainments

• Not a Number

Prerequisites: Gnosis 3, Occultation 1

While most live lives of quiet desperation, Blank Badges draw strength from their anonymity. Not officially existing, they dare all. They are mysterious strangers who command respect.

A Rebel at this level of Attainment treats Occultation dots as Status when entering a mundane social situation, regardless of what it is. So they’re just as likely to get a respectful response in a boardroom, hospital, police station or politician’s office, so long as they take any effort at all to fit in there. Even the flimsiest explanation seems to carry great weight, and people avoid questioning who the Blank Badge is, fearing to appear ignorant. The Blank Badge gets all the benefits of Status, and then people forget just as quickly, leaving little or not trace.

Optional Arcanum: Mind 2 Blank Badges skilled in the Arcane lore of the Mind are able to better avoid the pitfalls and subtle traps of Mind magic. They subtract one die per dot of Occultation from spells or supernatural powers that attempt to mentally control, detect or influence them, as the “Mental Shield” spell, except it operates at all times and is based on Occultation rating.

• The Quiet One

Prerequisites: Gnosis 5, Occultation 2

When the Blank Badge invokes Paradox, the player may roll the character’s Occultation: each success subtracts one success from the Paradox roll for determining the severity of the Paradox only, with a minimum of one Paradox success.

The total Paradox successes are still used for any other purpose. So, for example, a result of two Occultation successes against four Paradox successes lessens the severity of the Paradox from a Branding to Bedlam. It’s still considered four Paradox successes for all other purposes.

Blank Badges are far more given to Havoc and (particularly) Bedlam than the other outcomes of Paradox. Other mages say this Attainment is one reason why members of the Legacy are so often “eccentric” (to say the least).

• Nothing is True, Anything is Permitted

Prerequisites: Gnosis 7, Occultation 3, Persuasion 1

Some younger Badges call this Attainment “mind-freaking.” It’s the dangerous and difficult practice of at least partially Awakening Sleepers, convincing them something fantastic is not only possible, but real, and giving them a moment of clarity free from the Sleeping Curse. It breaks expectations and can (rarely) even lead to true Awakenings, but most often the effects are temporary.

A Bank Badge at this level of Attainment can take an instant action before casting a vulgar spell to make a Manipulation + Persuasion + Occultation roll. The player must roleplay some suitable explanation to any Sleeper onlookers, ranging from telling them it’s a magic show to actually giving them the truth: that they are witnessing a real act of magic. Each success subtracts one die from the mage’s Paradox dice pool. An exceptional success allows the mage to treat all onlookers as Sleepwalkers: a single act of vulgar magic performed in their presence does not provoke the Sleeping Curse or invoke a Paradox.

In addition, an exceptional success with this Attainment may cause a Sleeper who experiences an act of true magic to become a Sleepwalker permanently or even lead to a spontaneous Awakening as a mage. This cannot be predicted, however, and is entirely at the Storyteller’s discretion, as best suits the story. It’s also quite rare, so Storytellers should be sparing with it.